Sally Kipyego Edges Shalane Flanagan in a Fast Stanford 10,000

Monday, May 2, 2011, 11:21 pm

In a field chockful of distance-running talent, the battle in the women's 10,000 at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational on

[3]Sunday night came down to just two women, American record holder (30:22.22) Shalane Flanagan and multiple NCAA Champion Sally Kipyego of Kenya, who is now a professional and a member of the Oregon Track Club. The pair shared front-running duties for lap after lap until the final one, when Flanagan dropped the pace only to be quickly thwarted by Kipyego, who zipped down the straightaway to finish in 30:38.35, with Flanagan next in 30:39.57. Molly Huddle in fifth (31:28.66) and Jen Rhines in eighth (31:43.00) also achieved "A" qualifying standards for the 2011 World Championships. "We shared the load tonight. It made it a lot of fun," Flanagan said. "I hope it was entertaining." Oh, it surely was that. (photo of Sally Kipyego by Victah Sailer)